Gore on Health

Via The Carpetbagger, this just about clinches the Gore deal for me. What worries me about Hillary, and has for awhile, is how hemmed in she is on health care. After the total failure that was her first attempt at a major overhaul, her credibility and, thus, ability to push for substantive reform is asymptotically approaching zilch. She'll have to be an incrementalist. She'll get things done, sure, but small things, like IT, not big things, like single-payer. That's not because she's philosophically opposed to the project -- at least I don't think she is -- but the media storyline (Hillarycare 2!) would be ext to impossible to overcome.

Gore has no such constraints. More to the point, he's already endorsed single-payer:

"I think we've reached a point where the entire health care system is in impending crisis," Gore said. "I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we should begin drafting a single-payer national health insurance plan."

Just having such a major figure push that into the debate would change the health policy landscape. Add this to my other arguments on Gore 08. In fact, put it in first place. And consider me convinced: I want Gore in this race.